Batch Processing

You just finished a grueling photo shoot, you upload the 300+ images just to discover they are all underexposed. A knot forms in your stomach, you have to make supper, pick up the kids from school and now you've just added nearly 4 hours of fixing levels in Photoshop. Do you ever wish you could just set it and forget it? Well, you can for the most part.

Adobe Photoshop has a batch processing function that makes projects like this a breeze. Here is a mini tutorial. This works the best if all the images are equally under exposed. (or over exposed.)

Step 1:
Click on the Window menu and choose Actions to open the Actions Panel if it isn't already open. Click the Create New Action icon at the bottom of the panel and name the action something you will remember. (I'm using a combination of the date and event title.) Now click record.

Step 2:
Choose File> Open and open one of the images that needs to be adjusted. Now choose Layer> New Adjustment Layer> Levels. Click OK in the pop-up window. (There is no need to name this adjustment layer unless you really feel the need to.) Use the Levels Adjustment Layer to correct the image exposure. If needed repeat this last step adding a Curves Adjustment Layer. Lastly, choose File> Save As and save it as a JPG file. (or as any format you want.) When your file has been saved you can click the Stop Playing/Recording button in the Action Panel.

Step 3:
Now it's time to batch your folder of images using this action. Select File> Automate> Batch. This will open a dialog box. In the Play section under Set choose the set where you saved your action. Then in the action drop down box choose the action you just created.

In the Source section of the dialog box, select folder then choose the folder on your computer with the images that need adjusting. It' important to check off the box that says "Override Action "Open" Commands". If you forget to do this then Photoshop will open the exact image you used to record the action in the prior step. 

In the Destination section, select folder and then choose the folder on your computer where you want the images saved. Click the "Override Action "Save As" Commands" here as well. Forgetting to do this will cause Photoshop to save the images with the same image file name that you used in the action.

In the File Naming section the Document Name will leave the file name exactly as it is but if you need to rename the images as they are saved this is the place to do it.

Under the Errors section choose Log Errors To File and then choose a place to have the file saved. 

Step 4:
Just click OK to start running the batch. Now it's time to walk away and let Photoshop do the dirty work. That's right, grab a bowl of ice cream and pop in a movie. (Or what ever else you need to get done.) Depending on how many images there are it could take a while. Batch processing is a great tool and can be used for many things such as turning all your Christmas pictures to B/W images.